One of the best things about Lacombe in the summer is our Lacombe Days celebrations.
This year was better than ever with many special activities like the ‘Youth Unlimited Street Festival’, the musical Godspell at St. Andrew’s United Church and the ‘Locavore Lacombe’ culinary adventure.
People also enjoyed the parade with the many participants and the wide variety of entries. Thanks to the many businesses that sponsored events and all those who helped organize. Well done, Lacombe.
One highlight for me was the Sunday morning ‘Church in the Park’ at ME Global Field.
Every year, the Lacombe and District Ministerial organizes the service and Christians along with other interested community members gather together for a time of worship to God our Creator and Jesus our Savior.
I always think of it as a visible working out of Psalm 133 where it says, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!”
This stress on unity is strikingly visible in the Bible where God commands his people to gather three times a year at the great celebration feasts remembering his mighty acts of deliverance and salvation.
Everyone would come to Jerusalem to offer worship, sacrifice and praise and to be encouraged in their faith.
There is something special about large gatherings of people in worship.
It inspires faith and trust in God when we see him working in so many people in such wondrous ways. Normally on a Sunday each church meets with its own members.
At ‘Church in the Park’ we see everyone together and are reminded that we are not alone. We are part of something much bigger that God is doing in Jesus by the Holy Spirit right here in Lacombe.
Sometimes we can feel small and insignificant when we all meet separately. But we are not separate. We are united in Christ and called as it says in Ephesians 4:3, “To do everything we can to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Because we are one.
Ephesians 4:4-5 says there is, “One body, one Spirit, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.” Every year at Church in the Park we seek to live this out as we come together in a time of worship and praise to our one God and Savior Jesus Christ.
This year’s Church in the Park was especially enjoyable.
Once again the Lord provided a lovely sunny day with just a slight breeze to refresh. Members of Woody Nook CRC provided an excellent pancake breakfast to an estimated 1,000 people. From there we transitioned into our time of worship with Jessica Jacobson and her music team leading with some joyful singing.
Pastor Neil de Koning from Woody Nook welcomed everyone to the service and Pastor Mike Vandyk from Bethel Christian Reformed led in prayer for the City of Lacombe giving thanks for many blessings and seeking God’s help in areas of need.
The prayer was concluded with everyone saying the Lord’s Prayer together.
Members of Wolf Creek Community Church helped collect the offering in support of the Caring for Children fund of FCSS and a total of $2,500 was received.
Lacombe is a generous community. Pastor Mark Running from the Lacombe Pentecostal Church read the scripture from 1 Peter 1:1-9 which speaks of the hope that we have in Jesus.
This was followed by Pastor Bob Tattrie of the Nazarene Church and his quartet (Art Wiebe, Kevin Reed and Robin Esau) singing Truth is Marching On.
The main speaker in the service was Pastor Rick Abma from Neighbourhood Life Ministries.
He challenged us to truly be a caring community in each of our local neighbourhoods. Often we live next to people for years and we do not know them at all.
In Christ-like love we should make every effort to heed Jesus’ words to, “Love our neighbor.”
The service was concluded by Pastor Bill MacGillivary from Parkside Alliance Church with words of thanks and God’s parting blessing.
Along with all these participating churches we also benefited from the excellent sound system provided by Pastor Myles Gillespie from College Heights SDA.
Afterwards many people commented
This has been shared 0 times
Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines.